McCann Healthcare Worldwide changed its name to McCann Health, and five of its six US agencies rebranded to align more closely with their parent, the network said today.

The name change is aimed at reflecting McCann's new, wider remit that stretches beyond pharmaceutical marketing to include health and wellness, the company said in a statement. McCann Health is now engaging with governments and NGOs, for instance, while its McCann HumanCare unit is helping brands develop direct-to-patient and consumer communications.

The new identity “mirrors the growing diversity in the world of health,” John Cahill, the company's global CEO, said in the statement. "From our former focus primarily on the business of prescription healthcare, today we are also leaders in health and wellness. And from our centres of excellence in limited but key markets, now we have a multitude of experts in every major market around the world.”

McCann Health is one of two worldwide health networks that operate within Interpublic Group. The other, that of Lowe & Partners, took on new branding last year, as well, when IPG management gave ICC permission to grow healthcare within Lowe under the ICC Lowe brand.

As for how the rebranding is playing out in the States, McCann is becoming a sort of mother brand complete with the operating entities as a secondary mention. The two flagship US agencies are renaming as McCann Regan Campbell Ward and McCann Torre Lazur. Their siblings have been recast as McCann RCW Healthcare, McCann Echo Torre Lazur and McCann TL Managed Markets. McCann HumanCare is not changing its name.

In addition to reinforcing the McCann link, the branding allows clients to see the multi-disciplinary expertise they can access through that link. McCann Health also stressed that the new identity also reflects the fact that its business teams are built based on client needs and not limited by geography.

In a separate announcement today, Cahill said his agency would commit $5 million of “in-kind resources and technical assistance” to accelerate progress toward ending certain preventable childhood deaths. The announcement was made at the Call to Action on Child Survival conference being held in Washington, DC, through tomorrow.

McCann Health said the commitment is part of a new public-private partnership with the US and Canadian governments, UNICEF and other global organizations. The partnership also included a declaration -- signed by the agency along with the US, Canadian and Nigerian governments, among other signatories -- on scaling up treatment of childhood diarrhea and pneumonia.

The conference was convened by the US, Ethiopian and Indian governments, in close cooperation with UNICEF. Cahill, speaking on a panel about the role of the private sector in collectively ending preventable child deaths, said the Call to Action meeting is “a rare and exciting opportunity for the world to deliver on the long-standing commitment to give every child the best possible start in life.”

Cahill continued, “Creating demand as a new concept in health is what we believe will bend the curve in health services solutions. Civil society, particularly the private sector, along with faith-based communities must be active participants. If we succeed, in addition to the tremendous moral value of saving children's lives, we will enable agencies to strengthen demand for quality healthcare products and services.”